Too Cute For Their Own Good?

Photograph by Pete Oxford, Minden/National Geographic

Although it is illegal to capture, sell, and trade lemurs, their live capture in Madagascar
is ongoing and may have impacted over 28,000 lemurs between 2010 and 2013. Only this
study has examined the trade and did so using in-person interviews in northern Madagascar.
Anthropology Adjunct Assistant Professor Melissa Schaefer and her colleague, Dr. Kim
Reuter of Conservation International recently published a paper in the American Journal
of Primatology, and another was accepted for their research project. This project collected data
on pet lemur ownership through an online survey at www.petlemur.com, and has also been awarded a National Geographic grant which will allow Professor
Schaefer to go to Madagascar this Summer to conduct in-person interviews on the incidence
of pet lemur ownership. The goal of the project is to collect data to inform conservation
initiatives.

Read the full article:

Illegal Captive Lemurs in Madagascar: Comparing the Use of Online and In-Person Data
Collection Methods.

ePublished (ahead of the hard copy) in the American Journal of Primatology. Authors
Kim E. Reuter and